USPS agrees to temporary freeze on worker transfers
The American Postal Workers Union has agreed to a freeze on its members being reassigned by the USPS, as negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement continue. The world’s largest postal union is currently attempting to hammer out the agreement to set pay and conditions for its 220,000 USPS members following the end of the 2006-2010 agreement on November 20.
While no agreement has come as yet, the union said today that the USPS has agreed to a moratorium on excessing while negotiations continue.
Excessing – the practice of reassigning workers to alternative jobs outside their field, or based long distances from home is seen as “coercive” by the union, skirting around workers’ rights by persuading them to resign rather than face the hardships of a difficult transfer, and wants a new collective bargaining agreement to stamp it out.
The USPS insists that excessing is merely about reassigning workers to new locations “to meet the needs of the US Postal Service”.
Even without a fresh contract in place, the moratorium on excessing was seen by the union today as a “demonstration of good faith” by the USPS while bargaining continued.
APWU president Cliff Guffey said in a statement this afternoon that the move would halt planned excessing in “hundreds of locations” that would have affected “thousands” of postal workers.
Guffey said: “Throughout the bargaining process, the APWU has sought to negotiate a contract that would protect jobs and lessen the pain of excessing for our members. We are pursuing those goals.
“In the meantime, the moratorium on excessing is a demonstration of good faith that will make the holidays a lot brighter for many of our members,” added the union president.
USPS spokesman Mark Saunders confirmed today: “The US Postal Service has agreed to a temporary moratorium on excessing of American Postal Workers Union employees while contract talks continue.”
The Postal Service spokesman declined further comment, and could not say how long negotiations with the APWU might continue, or whether talks would continue beyond Christmas.
The union revealed that the discussions are currently focusing on issues including wages, benefits and workforce structure, at a time when the USPS is seeking to reduce annual losses reported this year to be $8.5 billion.
One of the “top priorities” of the union continues to be restoring work to its members that has either been contracted out or given to supervisory personnel, in order to prevent excessing and stabilise members’ employment.
The union’s president said keeping the work in the hands of those best able to carry it out would mean higher efficiency levels for the USPS.
“Our proposals would save the USPS money, because our members can perform these duties more efficiently and less expensively,” said Guffey.
If agreement is not reached within the next few weeks, the next Collective Bargaining Agreement will be decided by an arbitration panel comprising a representative of each side and a neutral arbitrator.
“The APWU will continue our efforts to negotiate a contract that benefits postal workers and the Postal Service,” Guffey said.
